The Infidelity

The Infidelity
I scream as another piercing contraction pains me. I have been in labor for about five hours now. As the pain begins to fade I grow quiet and begin to remember how I got into this situation. It is a memory of mixed pain and pleasure, and it began when I was sixteen years old, merely two years ago.
I awoke one morning a few moments before my maid came in to wake me. A dream woke me, one of a sinister yet handsome man that I would meet one day. I was angry at the dream, because it interrupted a wonderful one of my twin sister’s betrothed. Endimon and Islenia were the perfect couple, but I envied them. My sister is four minutes older than me, and because of that she is the heir to our parents’ throne, and betrothed to Prince Endimon. They were betrothed when our mother discovered her pregnancy. Mother knew it would be a baby girl, because of her prophetic powers. They failed to mention me however. I was a surprise, and not a very pleasant one. Mother almost died with me, because I was a difficult birth, unlike that of my sister. Mother and father named me Morgana after the goddess of the sea. Islenia is named after our grandmother.
That morning felt special somehow, so I got out my best clothes to put on. The maid came in just as I finished washing.
“Morning miss, you must be very excited about today.” She said.
“Why should I be excited about today Linny?” I said. Then it dawned on me. I had completely forgotten that it was my birthday. Then I frowned, because that day was also the day that my sisters wedding date would be set. “Never mind Linny, just help me get dressed and go about your duties.”
“Yes miss.” Linny said. She helped me get dressed then made my bed. I wasn’t paying much attention, because I was brooding about Endimon’s visit that day. He would be here for a whole year to officially court my sister. I also remembered that in two weeks both my sister and I would be going through the official test to decide whether we were eligible for the throne. With one last look in the mirror I went downstairs to join my family for breakfast.
I entered the dining room with a fake smile on my face. My twin sat in her usual spot to the left of Mother, an empty seat was next to her for me. Across the table from our mother sat General Revere, my father’s confidant and right hand man. Father sat at the head of the table. I sat down and began piling food onto my plate, and listened to Father’s conversation with Mother about the wedding.
“The wedding has to be at least one year from today. We give the groom test on that day. The wedding can be anytime after that right dear?” He said.
“Yes, however I need at least one month after the test to make the final preparations for the ceremony.” Mother said.
“Oh Mother, can’t we make the preparations before then? We both know that he will pass the test, so why wait? If we make the preparations before then we can have the wedding the day after the test.” Islenia said sweetly in a pouty tone. I almost gagged into my breakfast. Mother letting Islenia fly in the face of tradition? It would never happen I thought bitterly. Tradition is what stole Endimon from me. I hated tradition. Mother smiled sadly at Islenia.
“I’m sorry dear, but we have to follow tradition. The wedding will be at least a month after the test. It won’t be that hard.” Mother said. Islenia pouted and I secretly gloated. She wouldn’t get her way, for once in her life! Then Father changed the subject and talked with General Revere about the peace treaty with the Volcans. I half listened to him as I ate my favorite breakfast food, fresh strawberries and cream.
“Well, the king and queen are very adamant about having peace before their daughter, the princess Suzanne, gets married and ascends the throne.” Father said.
“I know your Majesty, I like Suzanne, she will be a good ruler but she is a little gullible when it comes to men. I’m afraid they will have to be careful about who she marries.” General Revere said.
“A delegation will be arriving, some lord and his son Kris or something like that, to discuss the treaty. I think the boy is one of the hopeful grooms, we’ll have to keep an eye on him.” Father said. I didn’t hear the full name when Revere told Father, but I would later learn that it was the boy in my dream, and his name is Kristonian. Father turned his attention to Islenia and me.
“Alright girls, it is time for you both to get ready for King Kelron’s arrival. I may be High King, but there is still respect to be shown to the lesser kings of the realm. Islenia prepare your welcoming speech and Morgana oversee the preparation of the guest rooms. Hurry along now both of you.” He said.
“Yes Father.” We said in unison. I was always stuck with the housekeeping jobs while Islenia got to do the princess stuff. As I worked I remembered the stranger from my dream. He was tall and dark, with jet black hair and dark green eyes. The color of his eyes disturbed and excited her a little, because that is a racial trait of the Volcans. The Volcans are people that live on the other island in the world, which has a large volcano on it that serves as the royal palace. Volcans were mostly our enemies, but at that time Father was working on a truce with them. That was before the revolution, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Later that afternoon King Kelron and his son Prince Endimon arrived. I was in love with Endimon from the first time we played together as kids. He has sandy blonde hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen on a boy. He and my sister are a perfect match. I have very dark blonde, almost brown, hair and eyes that are so dark they are almost violet. Islenia and I were identical when we were born, but we aren’t anymore. Islenia’s eyes stayed baby blue and her hair is so pale it is almost white.
We exchanged the formal courtesies and then went about the beginning of the courtship. The courtship began with Endimon offering Islenia a gold and sapphire courting ring. If Islenia accepted, which of course she did, they would begin to take walks and go for rides and shopping and such together. They did have to have a chaperone, and I was stuck with that pleasant job. This meant that for a whole year I got to follow them around and make sure they were proper with each other. It was SO much fun….not.
One such venture was the town fair. It was about a week away from our princess test, and Islenia and I were stressed to the max. Endimon decided that a little fun and junk food would help calm Islenia’s nerves. I got to join in because of being their chaperone. Islenia and I didn’t know anything about the ceremony, all we could do to prepare was to meditate and think about how to be a good ruler. For a whole day we ran around and saw new things and not think about the test. Islenia saw it as a way to get to know the people, I saw it as a waste of time and irritating. I was cross with everyone that day and did not enjoy myself. Most of our outings were like this.
On top of this, I had to prepare for the princess test, which Islenia and I would go through two weeks from our sixteenth birthday. The next two weeks were not much fun for me. I still dreamt of the strange man, and I felt that I would meet him soon. This kept me going through those difficult weeks.
The morning of the test dawned bright and clear, except for the ominous black clouds gathering in the distance. I should have been worried about them, but I wasn’t. My maid ran a purifying sea salt bath for me, and then dressed me in a coarse white dress, with no shoes. Islenia was prepared in the same way. From the moment we woke up we had to be silent except for answering questions during the ceremony. We didn’t know what would happen in the ceremony, so we were both nervous. We were escorted by our maids to the entrance of the throne room, then left to wait for the entrance bell. Islenia, being older, went first.
I stood outside silently and nervously waiting for my turn. After about half an hour the room erupted in a thunder of applause and cheers, which led me to believe that Islenia passed the test. If only she had failed…Endimon would be mine. Then the bell rang for me to enter, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
The door opened to show my father’s throne room lined with every high class citizen, petty king and noble in the realm. I grew more nervous as I walked down the long walkway towards the supplicant’s platform before my father’s throne. I tried not to look at all the important people around me, but did not fail to notice a few suspicious characters. A group of people that I could tell were Volcans were standing to the side of the throne’s dais, watching my every step. I recognized the young man from my dream, and he smiled pityingly at me. I got to the supplicant’s platform and knelt before my Father as he spoke.
"The first part of the ceremony will consist of testing your eligibility to become princess. This is painless if you are eligible, and non-lethal but painful if you are not eligible. Selenia will administer this test before the rest of the council.” Father’s loud voice boomed out. Selenia was the new head sorceress of Father’s council. She was only a year older than I was.
"First I shall pour this liquid silver onto your left hand. This will test your humanity." Selenia said in her smooth, quiet voice. The silver was poured, and my hand began to glow brightly silver. I was pleased; I passed the first part of the test. But there was more to go through.
"Now I shall pour this liquid Sulfur to test the level of your darkness." Selenia said. The sulfur was poured, and here I failed. The glow was just as bright as the silver was, and it burned. I grew worried. I hadn’t passed this test.
“You have not passed this test with a high score, however, you have one more to go through, and this score can outweigh the sulfur one.” Selenia said, “Now I will pour this liquid gold to test your purity.” The gold was poured. There was no glow. Nothing but a sharp burning pain that made me gasp. I failed. My parents and the onlookers gasped. Then the terrible sentence reigned down on my head from my father’s lips.
“You are never eligible to hold a throne in this realm. You will be treated as our daughter and nothing more. You are no longer a princess, and will never be a queen; the highest rank you can gain is that of a low duchess or high baroness. You are no longer royal, but still our daughter. You may go.” He said sadly.
I ran out of the room sobbing. I ran all the way to the edge of the Island, and into a large cave that Islenia and I used to play in when we were children. I couldn’t stop crying and no one came to look for me, so I was out long after dark. This is when I met my dream man. Kristonian came to me and comforted me. He came after dark, and he brought me food, which I welcomed because I had not eaten all day. When he put his arm around me I buried my head into his shoulder and sobbed. He murmured comforting words to me until I calmed enough to eat. When I was finished, I began to ask him questions.
“Who are you, and why are you here?” I asked.
“I am Kristonian, I am the son of a noble lord on the volcano.” He said, “I am here with my father to work on the peace treaty.” I looked at him warily.
“How did you know that I was here?” I asked suspiciously.
“I was in the throne room when it happened. I followed you to make sure you were ok. I gave you some space and got you some food. I like you.” He answered. I should have realized that he couldn’t really know me yet. I just needed to be loved so badly at that time that I didn’t care. From that day on Kristonian began to secretly court me, and slowly draw me further and further away from my family. He played with my emotions and made all the little things that angered me seem so much worse.
I grew to hate my sister, and my anger towards my parents colored my every decision. When my sister and Endimon got married, I was so hurt that I gave up. Kristonian comforted me that night, and I gave him my virginity. I became pregnant with his child. I thought that he would marry me when he found out, so I waited for him to return from a business trip to tell my family and him.
He didn’t come back for quite a while, and I could no longer keep the pregnancy a secret. I told my mother on the same day that the news of Kristonian’s marriage arrived. I didn’t know about it, until after I told her who it was and what was wrong. I was not prepared for her reaction.
“How dare you! First you disgrace our family by failing the princess test, now you are pregnant with a cross breed bastard child!” Mother screamed.
“How do you know that it will be a bastard child? Kristonian loves me! I’m certain he will marry me!” I screamed back. This is when the awful news of Suzanne came to me.
“Kristonian has tricked Princess Suzanne into marrying him! He married her, then put her away in a tower and killed all of her family! Your precious Kristonian has become the King of the Volcans! He has to remain married to Suzanne to keep his throne, do you think he will give it up for a stupid girl like you?” Mother yelled. I was shocked. Kristonian was married! I ran from the room sobbing, but ran into my father. He heard everything.
“It is good that you run from your mother, for she has the power to beat you for this where I do not. However, this final betrayal of your family will be seen as treason, and you are now forevermore banished from my kingdom. Take what you need to survive and leave this Island before daybreak, or you will be killed. Get out of my sight!” Father said. I ran from him and grabbed my things from my room. I managed to get back to the cave and found Kristonian. He explained things to me. He told me that he loved me and he just used Suzanne for the throne. I would become his head concubine, and he would raise my child as his heir. He whisked me away to the Volcano, and saved me from certain death.
That brings me back the present, that and a stabbing contraction that leaves me breathless. I am now a prisoner in his palace, giving birth to his bastard child. He dotes on me, and I have ultimate power over everyone in his house. One last contraction hits me. It is the final one, and the baby comes out with a squelching pop. At the sound of the pop I black out, and see what the future will bring.
A girl with my mother’s hazel-blue eyes and with my chestnut brown hair stood before me. She had all of Kristonian’s arrogance and strength. She faced Kristonian with four warriors behind her. She shot a single bolt of magic at him and defeated him. She was then crowned Queen of the Volcans, and her sister Queen of the Islanders. Kristonian was defeated and a pure peace reigned over the land.
I know that this was a fast and vague vision. I also know that it is my daughter that will one day defeat her father. I will keep this knowledge from Kristonian, for I hope that I can change it. I will call the girl Crystal, and I will raise her away from her father in hopes that keeping his influence away will keep her from hating him. Though I love Kristonian, he is still a hard person to love, especially for a young girl. I smile at my daughter and lord, and make my plans for the future.

The End.